Rose
by Briee
Summary: Luke gives Grace a VDay gift. [Complete] [Retyped, redone, reposted]


**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Sigh...**

**A/N: I re-wrote this, added the second chapter to the first, and made some changes. I deleted the other version of this and re-posted this as a new story. **

_Beep Beep Beep_

Grace Polk groggily opened her eyes and groaned.

_Beep Beep Beep_

She turned around and shut off her alarm. She glanced at the time on the clock. It read 7:03 am. Grace groaned again, not wanting to get up, but the thought of seeing Luke was too tempting.

Grace chuckled. She wanted to get to school early. But, oh, how she hated school. The teachers made her mad, the students were immature and the Vice-Principal was just a pain in the ass. Yet she couldn't wait to get there. She knew what, really whom, was going to be waiting for her. She smiled, in spite of herself.

She walked over to her dresser and picked up her brush. She glanced at the calendar on the wall. Today was Monday, February 14th... aka Valentine's Day. Inwardly, she groaned.

Grace had always hated Valentine's Day. It was a day for merchants to make excess money on selling over-priced objects, to people stupid enough to buy them, just to impress whoever they loved. Plus, Grace had never had a boyfriend before, and Valentine's Day was just a day to remind her that nobody loved her.

This year was different. This year she had someone who loved her. But did she love him? How do you know if you love someone? Grace had thought about it, but never came to a conclusion. Maybe she did.

In a way, she hoped that maybe the geek would get her something, but nothing too mushy of course. But, she didn't want to be a hypocrite. After all, Grace Polk is supposed to be anti everything, even love.

Grace got dressed, and put on her leather jacket. She tied her shoes, grabbed her bag, and headed downstairs. Her mother was still "asleep" on the sofa. It seemed that her father hadn't come back from the synagogue since yesterday

Grace took an apple and began munching on it. Her thoughts wandered to what Luke might have gotten her, and each thought seemed even less likely than the last. He would always be getting her random things. There never was really a "theme", like some couples had. Just random things that reminded him of her.

Grace secretly thought it was cute.

When she heard her mother move around in the living room, Grace quietly slipped out the back door.

------

The walk to school seemed longer than ever, and Grace was getting a bit discouraged. Something about that geek made her heart race, and she hadn't seen him since Wednesday. His grandmother was ill and he had needed to go visit her in the hospital in Baltimore.

Before he had showed up in her life, it was just her and Adam Rove. They were cool about not talking about their home life. Adam didn't pry into her life, and she didn't into his. But then they had both met Joan, Luke's sister, in AP Chem. After that, Joan became their friend. Even if she was odd.

Luke had started to show interest in her shortly after that, but he didn't do anything about it. And Grace was sure she was never going to go out with him. She had made a vow along time ago that she would be independent, not ever needing to rely on anyone but herself. After living at her home all her life, she knew she could never depend on anyone.

Somehow, Luke had been able to slip underneath her protection, layers of anger, mistrust, sarcasm and everything else. He broke the walls along her heart, one by one, letting himself in on her secrets, her inner person. And Grace could do nothing to stop it.

Wanting to be in control of her heart, Grace had made up a secrecy contract, hoping to scare him away. It wasn't that Grace didn't want to be with him; every bone in her body wanted to be able to claim him as her own. She was scared, something she doesn't easily admit. She didn't want to be hurt again, as she had been so many times before.

Grace entered the school, and rushed to the Biology closet. It was her and Luke's "Special" place. Okay, so there were a bunch of dead animals in a jar. Maybe it wasn't the most romantic spot in the world, but they were never interrupted.

Luke had surprised her when he signed the contract. They made out for 5 minutes each day, behind the wall of an empty building, they weren't allowed to speak to each other in public, to be seen in public together, and so on. Grace had to admit, it was lame. But she didn't want to have a weakness.

As Grace opened the door, someone came up behind her. Worried that it was Price, or some other teacher, she closed the door and turned around. Luke was standing there, a grin plastered to his face. Grace smiled. "Let's get in there," she said, pointing to the door.

Grace had soon found that Luke was a person she could trust, from the moment she decided to tell him about her mother. He never pitied her, or felt differently towards her. He held her as she cried, a gesture that she had never received before, making her feel so much better.

As soon as Grace and Luke entered the room, lips crashed, tongues lashed and passion grew. Hands roamed, and the two lovers were oblivious to the world around them.

------

All throughout the day, couples would be giving each other small gifts, holding hands and even making out in public. Grace would always make a rude comment whenever she passed a couple who were doing anything remotely showing affection. By the end of the day, people would try to avoid Grace whenever they wanted to be alone.

But, what irked Grace the most was how much Joan and Adam seemed to be even more... lovey-dovey than usual, if that was possible.

"But Grace!" whined Joan at lunch. "Why do you have to be such a Scrooge on Valentine's day? You have a honey now, so why don't you do the romance thing with him?"

Grace nearly choked on the water she was drinking. "Excuse me?" she said, still coughing. "I am not about to suck face with your younger brother in the hall."

Joan made a face. "I'm not asking you to 'suck face' with him, as you so bluntly put it. Just show him some love, hold his hand, do something!" Joan replied. "Well, not that 'something', but you know what I mean. Luke really likes you, and I know you really like him. I probably could go as far as saying that you loved him..."

Grace just rolled her eyes. She wasn't about to admit to Joan that she had deep feelings for Luke, because she knew Joan would want to have some "girl time" to talk all about her relationship and stuff. Grace just wasn't into that. She was content on leaving her feelings to herself.

So instead, she replied with one of her usual comments, "If I loved Geek Boy, I think that I should be telling HIM how I feel, not you."

---

During their activities in the Biology closet, Luke invited Grace to come over to his house at the end of the day. Grace accepted with enthusiasm, not wanting to hear her mother's drunken slurs asking why she wasn't out with her "lover" on Valentine's.

Oh, and she would be able to spend more time with Luke.

-----

"Grace! I didn't expect you to be coming over!" said Joan, as she saw Luke and Grace walk inside the house.

Grace shivered a bit. "Rocket Boy invited me," she answered.

"Want me to make some hot chocolate?" Luke asked. Grace nodded.

Once they were comfy on the sofa, with a movie in the DVD player, sipping their hot chocolate, Grace snuggled closer to Luke. Joan had gone off to the store, and the Girardi parents were still at work. As for Kevin, the oldest son, Grace neither knew, nor cared where he was at the moment.

Luke put his arm around her, and she rested her head against his shoulders. Normally, if there were other people in the room, she wouldn't allow this much closeness between them. But, since no one was around, Grace felt comfortable this close to Luke.

The movie was reaching its end, when Joan came back. Hastily, Grace pulled away from Luke's embrace, leaving her side feeling a bit cold, from the lack of heat. A smirk was on Joan's lips, as she saw this.

"Don't move because of me." It was more of a mocking statement than anything else.

Grace was about to comment when the front door opened again..

"Grace! I didn't know you were coming. Would you like to stay for supper? Will is making some homemade pizza," Helen said, as she came into the living room.

Grace nodded. "Sure, I'll go call my dad."

She inclined her head, motioning for Luke to follow her as she made the phone call. Luke nodded, and let her upstairs, where she could phone from his room.

After having waited a sufficient amount of time, Grace came down again and told Mrs. Girardi that she could stay for supper. Grace didn't feel like calling her parents. She knew that her mother would probably already be drunk, and her father would be wondering why she wasn't at home with her mother.

"Is it because of your mother?" Luke whispered to her, on realizing that she was lying about the phone call.

The blonde glared at him. "What is that supposed to mean?" she snapped.

"Nothing!" Luke said, raising his hands defensively.

"It better."

-----

After supper, Grace headed home, ignoring all the looks Luke gave her, trying to get her to stay longer. But, Grace knew she had better be getting home, to make sure her mother didn't drink the entire cabinet full of alcohol.

As Grace walked home, she thought of many things.

Such as why Luke hadn't gotten her anything.

Okay, she knew she had made it known she hated the Hallmark-induced holiday, but Geek Boy was always doing things she didn't exactly like. In the end, she ended up secretly loving them.

A smile slipped on her face, as she continued thinking of Luke. But that smile quickly turned into a frown as Grace entered her house, the strong smell of alcohol surrounding the air. Her stomach turned as she walked closer and closer to the kitchen. The smell was getting worse, and she could hear a pair of voices at the table.

As in two voices.

As in her father was home.

Oh crap.

Just as Grace had predicted, as she entered the kitchen, her mother was drunk, telling a story. Her father was barely paying attention, but as soon as she walked in, his attention turned to her.

"Grace, where were you? You were supposed to be home with your mother!" the Rabbi said, trying to keep his voice calm.

Grace just shrugged. "I was out. And, you should be taking care of your wife, not making me do it," she replied, keeping the same tone of voice her father was using.

Her father seemed to concede that point, because he changed the focus of his questions. "I want to know where you were."

Grace rolled her eyes. "I was out, like I said."

"Out where?" he persisted.

"Out of the house," Grace answered, not wanting to divulge where she really was. A laugh was trying to escape her lips, but she forced it down.

"With your lover?" slurred Mrs. Polonski.

A strange look passed over her father's face at that. "Grace, are you and the Girardi boy getting..." her father seemed uncomfortable saying the next word, "um... intimate?"

Grace groaned. She had known that it was bound to happen, but she had hoped that she could at least go to her room before her mother said anything that could make her father question anything to do with her and Luke.

"That's none of your business," replied Grace, before bounding up the stairs.

Once in her room, Grace switched to her nightwear, and put on her head phones, not forgetting to lock her door. She pulled out her binder from her bag, and began writing random words on her page. Not interested in doing her homework, Grace filled the entire page up with words, and once it was done, she flipped the paper over and continued.

After making sure that her mother and father were in their room, Grace went downstairs for a snack after having unlocked her door. The pizza had been filling, but Grace had taken the long way home, making her hungry once more.

A box of chocolate, possibly from Halloween, lay hidden at the back of the pantry. Grace reached for it, but as she pulled it out, a box of crackers came tumbling down. Worried that her father had heard the noise, Grace grabbed the chocolate and hurriedly headed back to her room.

Once in her room, Grace locked the door and collapsed on her bed. She bounced a few minutes before opening the chocolates and popping one in her mouth. The warm feeling spread through her body, making her feel as though Luke was near her, holding her close in his arms. A small smile appeared on her face as she fell asleep, imagining Luke sleeping next to her...

When she woke up, there was a small tapping noise against her window.

And another.

And another.

Grumbling, Grace walked over to the window. She nearly jumped a foot in the air when she saw who was sitting in the tree next to her window.

"Luke Girardi, what the hell are you doing?" asked Grace, after she opened the window. She shivered slightly, as she was only clad in a tank top and a pair of drawstring pajama pants.

Luke scrambled through the window. "Are you cold?" he asked, an impish smile on his face.

"I am, you idiot! It's winter for crying out loud and...", but Grace did not get to finish her sentence for Luke's lips crashed upon hers, his arms snaking around her waist. Grace wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his head down.

After the need for fresh air became too great and the lovers pulled apart. Luke rested his forehead against Grace's, a soft smile playing on his lips.

"Why are you here?" inquired Grace, once her breathing had returned to normal.

"Are you complaining?" Luke answered with a question of his own.

Grace chuckled softly, but shook her head. "No, I'm quite glad you're here, but why?"

Luke reached into his pocket and pulled out a white rose. "Happy Non-Valentine's day," he said.

Grace was shocked. Looking at her clock, she realized that he was right, it no longer was the 14th, but almost half an hour into the 15th.

"It's... beautiful," commented Grace, truly awed at the sweet gesture from the geek... her geek.

"It's a symbol of your beauty," Luke said.

Grace raised her eyebrow, hoping that her cheeks were not turning a brilliant shade of red. "Excuse me?"

"You're like a rose, to get to the beauty, you have to past the thorns," Luke explained, his face turning a slight pinkish color.

Grace couldn't help but smile. She kissed him with all the emotions she felt.

"I love you," Grace admitted, once they pulled away.

A goofy grin spread across Luke's face. "Well, Miss Polk, I love you too."

They fell on the bed together, a tangle of limbs. The soft moonlight shone through the windows as the two lovers discovered each other's bodies. They made love for the first time that night, declaring their love for one and other over and over again with each touch and kiss.

----

When Grace woke up, she felt extremely pleased, sore and very... naked? As she was about to turn around, she heard something moving on the other side of her bed. Suddenly, an arm wrapped itself around Grace's stomach, which caused her to shiver slightly.

She turned around and there was Luke, sleeping peacefully. His blond hair tousled, sticking up in every direction. Without his glasses, he looked less like a geek and more like a normal teenager. A soft smile played on Grace's lips as she watched Luke sleep. Glancing at the clock, which read 6 am, Grace decided to go back to sleep for the short time there was left. She would deal with the naked Luke later...

Luke woke when Grace had moved around, but decided to keep his eyes closed. He waited till he heard her breathing become slow, indicating that she was once more asleep, and got up. He pulled on his boxers and looked outside.

The whole street was covered with ice, and there weren't many cars on the road; the ones that were on the road were slipping and sliding. Not wanting to turn on the radio in case he woke up Grace, Luke grabbed his cell phone and called Joan from the other side of the room.

"Hello?" answered a groggy Joan, who had clearly still been sleeping.

"Hey. Can you tell me if there's no school today?"

"Luke? Why are you calling at... six twenty in the morning? And where are you? Mom came to ask me if I knew where you were and I told her you were at Freidman's."

"Joan, just answer my question. Is there school today, or is a snow day?"

"Tell me where you are and I'll tell you."

Luke groaned. "I'm... uh... at... uh..."

"Grace's?"

"Yeah..."

"Okay, well then. I checked the Web site while you were doing all that stammering."

Crap.

Luke could have done that himself, with Grace's computer. His mind was definitely on other things this morning.

"There's no school, and I don't think I want to know what you're doing at Grace's. I'll tell mom you were at Friedman's studying, okay?"

"Thanks so much Joan, I owe you," Luke said, before flipping off his phone. He quietly put his phone back, and looked at Grace's alarm. Noticing it was set for 7, Luke turned off the alarm. Grace should be able to sleep in this morning...

-----

"Gracie? Are you up yet? Your door's locked," Mrs. Polanksi said through the door to her daughter.

Grace groaned, and opened her eyes. "Yes Mom, I'm awake," she said, turning her head to her clock. Noticing the time, she gasped. It was already nine o'clock! "I'll be down soon!"

She hoped she could to get rid of her mother in time to get Luke awake and out of her room. "No rush, there's no school," her mother said, before going down the stairs.

Grace looked at her clock again and noticed that the alarm had been shut off. "Dude, why did you do that for?" she thought. Deciding it was time to wake him up, Grace slowly kissed him. Luke responded within a few minutes, flipping them both over so that he was on top.

After pulling away, Luke had a sheepish grin on his face. "Morning. You know... I like the way you wake me up. Better than an alarm, and way more enjoyable," he told her, noticing a slight pink blush making its way to her cheeks.

"You know there's no school today, right?" Luke asked.

Grace nodded. "My mom told me," she answered.

The color drained from his face. "You mean... your mom... saw... saw us?" he stammered.

Grace laughed. "No, I locked the door last night before you showed up, so she couldn't come in."

"Good thinking."

"You're not the only genius."

Luke kissed her again, making sure his body didn't squish her small frame. "I think we should be getting to your house. I bet your mother wants to know where you are," Grace said, after Luke had pulled away.

"Joan told her that I was at Friedman's," he replied.

"Wait, how do you know? You didn't tell her anything did you?"

"Well, I called her this morning to ask her about school, and she sorta figured it out..." Luke replied uneasily.

Grace hit his arm. "Why did you do that?" she asked.

"She figured it out! I didn't tell her anything!"

"You'd better not have..."

"Come on. Let's get dressed and go over to my place."

"Fine!" said Grace, before getting out from under Luke. He watched her getting dressed for a moment before getting out of bed and doing the same. She didn't mind.

"Okay, listen. I don't think my father's still home, but we'd better not take a chance. It'd be best if maybe you'd sneak out the window and meet me by the door. Ring the doorbell and I'll get it. But only ring it after 5 minutes, or else I won't have time to do some damage control. Got it?" Grace asked, making sure Luke got the plan.

He nodded. "Got it."

Getting out of her room the same way he got in, Luke scurried down the icy tree and made his way to the door. He left footprints in the snow of course, but he doubted that the Polonskis would play Sherlock Holmes and trace him back to Grace's window. Luckily, the tree was blocking most of the icy chill and Luke didn't have to wait too long. Five minutes came up fast enough, and he rang the doorbell.

"Bye mom!" Grace cried as she closed the door behind her. She shivered slightly from the change of temperature, and moved closer to Luke.

As they walked towards the Girardi household, neither teenager wanted to bring up the night before. Not out of regret, but simply out of awkwardness.

Last night, Grace had shown vulnerability, something she vowed never to let happen. She had shown a side of her she never thought she would show, especially to the geeky teenager walking next to her.

Teenage romances rarely ever lasted, and giving herself totally and completely to Luke was something she could never take back.

Her father had once said, during "the talk", that the gift she had to give, meaning her virginity, was something she could never take back. But, did she really want to take it back? She knew she loved Luke, and he loved her back. She could see them in years to come still together, maybe... maybe even... marriage.

She could feel Luke's gaze upon her. She took his hand, hers feeling a bit small against his. A saying came back to her when from when she was younger: "_You know what they say about guys with big hands..._". Grace burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Luke asked, watching her double up in laughter.

"N-n-nothing," Grace tried to say, but more laughter came out. After she composed herself, she said, "It's nothing. Really. Now, if you don't want both our ears to fall off, I suggest you leave it alone and keep walking. Unless you can find a way to warm me up?"

Luke grinned. "I could think of something..."

After making out behind a tree for a few minutes, Luke and Grace continued their way to the Girardi household.

A few minutes passed before Grace spoke. "Can I ask you why there was a condom in your pocket last night?"

"I was prepared."

"Obviously." She paused. "But you didn't know that we were gonna... you know..."

Luke stammered. "Um, well... you know... um... well..." He hung his head in shame. "I was kinda hoping that something could happen. Not that I think that you're that type of girl or anything!" A pink tinge colored his face. "We have been dating for a year now. You're 17, and I'm a good fair few months away from it... but that's not the point... I thought it was natural for teens to wanna... do that..."

Grace laughed at him, then gave him a kiss on the lips. "Oh it's natural all right."

------

"Luke Girardi! Where have you been?" Helen screamed at Luke opened the door.

"I'm sorry Mom. I was at Friedman's and we got so caught up in studying that by the time I realized what time it was, it was way too late to call you," he said, bowing his head in mock shame. Hoping his mother bought this poor excuse for an excuse, he glanced up, giving her puppy-dog eyes.

"It's better not happen again," grumbled Helen, before going to inform Will that Luke was home.

"Dude. You just lied to your mother!" Grace said in awe. In spite of her own home situation, he knew that the Girardis' behavior to each other tended to be honest and trusting. Except when somebody questioned Joan about her ever-changing hobbies---

He shrugged, a grin on his face. "Let's hope Joan doesn't spill the beans."

"You so owe me," Joan accused, as soon as Luke came into the kitchen. Helen had gone upstairs, leaving the three teenagers alone in the kitchen.

"I know, I know," Luke said, raising his hands in a guilty fashion. "At least let me eat something. I'm starved!" he added, then shot a glance at Grace. "Are you hungry? 'Cause I heard your stomach rumbling this morning..."

Joan scrunched her nose, obviously wondering how close he had been to that stomach, and Grace rolled her eyes.

After heating up some leftover waffles, and handing Grace a plate full of them, Luke sat down in front of Joan, with Grace to the left of him.

"So, I'm guessing you two don't want to tell me what you were doing last night, right?" Joan asked, almost afraid of what the answer might be. Both teenagers blushed slightly and shook their heads. "Good, 'cause I don't want to know."

After the two lovers finished their breakfast, the doorbell rang. Joan rushed to get it, only to return with Adam moments later. "Cha, Jane. I told you not to worry about them," he told her.

"Unchallenged," Grace said.

The four teenagers sat down in the living room and Joan turned on the television. The weather man was on, and Joan groaned.

"Dude, it's just a weather man. Chill," Grace said.

A blush spread along Joan's face. "Uh... yeah... I knew that. I was...uh... mad because of the weather forecast. Yeah... that's it...not because of the weather man, you know... cause that would just be silly. He's not God or anything... yeah..."

As they were about to put in a movie, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Luke said, getting up from the sofa.

"I'll come with you," Grace added, not wanting to have to endure Joan's prolonged staring at her any longer.

Luke looked out of the window to see who it was, and groaned. "It's Friedman."

Grace sighed. "Maybe he doesn't know you're here."

As Luke turned towards Grace, he had a grim smile. "He saw me."

"Shit. Oh well, go open the door. Don't tell him anything or else last night will never happen again," Grace warned.

"Luke, where the hell were you last night? I tried calling you!" Friedman exclaimed, as soon as Luke opened the door.

"What time did you call at?" Luke asked.

"Around midnight."

"I was... uh... busy..."

"What were you busy doing at midnight... oh. Luke Girardi, you dog!"

"What?"

"You were doing Polk, weren't you?"

"Friedman, I'm right here!" Grace cried, a dark crimson blush appearing on her face.

"Sorry, I forgot you were there," Friedman said, with a smirk on his face. Grace punched his nose.

His shout brought in Helen, who hastily raced to get an ice pack.

"Dude, your girlfriend is vicious!" Friedman cried, as he held the ice pack to his nose.

Helen glared at her son. "And, may I ask why your girlfriend hit your friend?"

Luke shifted uncomfortably. "He was making fun of us."

"Geek, that sounds like a 5 year olds excuse!" whispered Grace

"Well I don't see you coming up with anything!"

"Ahem!" Helen interrupted.

The two teenagers glared at one and other before turning their attention to Helen. She sighed. "Look, I don't really care about what happened, or what anyone said. Just, make sure it never happens again under my roof. Got it?" she said. All three teenagers nodded.

Friedman went home, after Luke and Grace had persuaded him that they had not slept together. This was going to be their secret, not matter what. Friedman was not the one that was going to blow the cover for them.

The evening went by smoothly. Joan and Adam had made popcorn and emptied all the chip bags into bowls, and the four teenagers watched movies and ate junk food for the rest of the evening.

Since more ice had fallen, making it almost impossible to get out without slipping and sliding, Grace persuaded her parents to let her stay the night, as long as she slept in Joan's room. Adam also stayed over, his father being out of town for the week.

Joan had fallen asleep on the sofa with Adam, and Grace was sleeping on the floor with Luke next to her. Helen, Will and Kevin came in and covered the four teenagers in blankets. Kevin took a picture of them all, making sure he had some blackmail for when the right occasion came...

**The End!**


End file.
